Space Towers & Supertall Skyscrapers

[@n.l.g.6401]

Do y'all ever forget that you're watching an independent KZbin channel and not some National Geographic special when Isaac & Co. put these babies out, or is it just me?

[@stefanr8232]

I did not know national geographic was making anything competitive.

[@taitano12]

Nat-Geo doesn't, but some channels do. Some, with dubious scientific credibility and presenting stuff that just would not work at all, most just glossing over the principles behind the tech. IA presents the same stuff you find on certain "edutainment" channels, but he actually does the math and clarifies things that his big-budget counterparts (I refuse to call them straight up competitors) don't seem to understand at all. By being in the field and not some listicle narrator for H2, Discovery or the "Science" Channel, he doesn't insult our intelligence. Most people who watch stuff like this understand the science and math enough that it does not have to be dumbed down; even if our math is rusty and underdeveloped enough we couldn't do it ourselves. Thanks, Isaac. And thank you for putting it on KZbin where someone like me - on disability from an injury and depression - can watch it instead of sinking over a hundred dollars a month of my fixed income for satellite TV.

[@MartinPreinfalk]

N. L. G. orders of magnitude better than ng

[@taitano12]

I'm 41, and haven't been able to watch NG in almost 15 years. I didn't know they had fallen that far. Even back when I watched NG, this sort of thing was more the venue of Discovery or whatever. The comparison I was making was to the quality of illustrations, animations and music being on par with something on one of those channels, though the content is head-and-shoulders above what they produce.

[@n.l.g.6401]

Domyras Definitely meant it as a compliment! I haven't had TV service since college, and vaguely remember reality shows starting to take over sometime during high school (over 10 years ago lmao). I used to stay up late watching space documentaries, then either going to the library or cranking up our dial-up connection to read more about what I watched. Honestly, though, it's nice to see all these channels devoted to education and discussion. As broadcast syndicates start to crumble, ordinary people are picking up the slack. And with ad revenue and crowd-funding, they can actually make a living, too!

[@theCodyReeder]

This video inspired me to purchase some cable and bearings to build a actively supported tower.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Now that is a project I will wait anxiously to see work.

[@jamesfra1311]

Cody'sLab Do it!

[@AnneArchibald]

Cody'sLab I thought maybe bicycle parts would be cheaper and easier - use gears instead of magnets to move a chain

[@noahegler9131]

PLEASE upload a video of it in action if you can hammer out most of the engineering gremlins. No pressure.

[@ahumanbeingamnayplaceholde1746]

Part one of Cody's video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2XOhXlmrdxmr5o

[@Kitkat-986]

i remember seeing massive floating forerunner towers in halo 4, and being completely in awe at them, being slightly saddened by the fact that such a thing could never exist. now i learn that not only is such a thing possible, but actually quite likely to be built in just a few hundred years perhaps.

[@Drew_McTygue]

I love the intro to reach upward bound episode! Great stuff Isaac, thank you for making this high quality content.

[@valrond]

Agreed, great intro and great music.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Yeah I really felt the UB intro worked so well I decided to start doing those for other series too.

[@Tolca]

This guy is right love the intro, was gonna say the same thing myself.

[@marekvyrostko]

Paused the video just to comment this, but I see this is a popular opinion :D truly bad-ass intro.

[@ghetto_mic9401]

This intro hypes me up so much

[@PelenTan]

I agree that it looks like active support systems are just as reliable as passive if you take care of the constant power issue. However... This is going to seem a tangent but follow it through. When I deployed to Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm, before we headed out to the desert and once we came back at the end, we stayed in Kobar Towers. These were fairly massive "apartment" buildings. I put apartment in quotes because each living area was nicer than many condos I've seen and been in. I think each had like three or four bedrooms, very nice, big, kitchens, kick-ass ac, allot done in what looked like marble. Open and spacious. We were there because they were empty. And and had been since they had been built ( I don't remember how many years they had been empty but I want to say 10). The Saudis had built the beautiful apartment buildings for the Bedouin tribes that still wandered the desert. The tribes were told they could have them. No strings. They could stop wandering the deserts scavenging for food and water. The Bedouin said "Eh. No thanks. We're good." I think who ever built these active support living areas would run into the same response.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Lucky SOB, my stay in Saudi Arabia was sharing a big tent with my brethren :) And experiencing my first full-blown sandstorm. Anyway, that's more of an example of bad salesmanship and targeting. That's a drastically different lifestyle, tribes that reject apartment complexes might love RVs. You might have a lot of folks reject living in an active support structure, but folks might come to feel more comfortable with them over time. You start by using them for transport and then a few luxury ones, and see if it takes. It might not, but we don't really need residential buildings over 100 stories even in a Ecumenpolis.

[@PelenTan]

Guess I should have been clearer. We were only in them for less than a week at the beginning and then a couple weeks at the end. Would have been shorter at the end but damn they got picky on what they considered a "clean" vehicle. Most of my time was in a tent as well. 1k south of Fafir Albatin. EPW escort. Couple of sandstorms and a number of days where the air was so thick with smoke from the oil fires that it was like midnight. Yes, there is a difference, but I think it might be more superficial than you're thinking. What they and those looking at the active support towers have in common is much more primal: distrust of what they can't control. Even the term "active control" stirs that feeling. If it's "active" that means someone is controlling it and it isn't them. A bunch of rocks fused together forming walls and floors our hind-brain understands as not going anywhere except in extreme circumstances. "Active support" means, in our minds anyway, that if some stranger wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, the entire structure is going to come tumbling downand there is nothing we can do about it. Perception is everything in marketing. I do agree with you as far as what their primary use will be, especially in the beginning. Though it brings up the question will that sort of use be enough to pay for it? You mention luxury living residences. That would be a difficult sell because that would put them far away from the areas that most people who could afford to live there would want to be in. You would likely have to go in "natural order". Residences for those that work on the systems and their families. Then some stores to service them and residences for those people. And have it grow up around the "cross-roads nucleus" method. It would likely also attract artists. And some manufacturing interests. So sorta like a Pittsburgh. Hmmm... Going to have to think on that. I'm liking the way that's shaping up. Will have to put that in my books.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

That part I was glad to experience, nobody set any wells on fire during my fun trip to the sandbox. Maybe that's why a lot of folks use 'dynamic' instead of 'active' support even for the structures that should maintain static shape. You may be right, weirdly active support doesn't bug me but planes and choppers do, I think its the idea that I'm connected to the ground, so odds are some folks will be just fine with it and others will be 'over my dead body', and of course for residential structures its got to be the whole family who is game for it, so if the odds are too low they might never be used for that.

[@ChrisBrengel]

"The sky is most definitely _not_ the limit." Yup, it's an SFIA video!

[@rock3tcatU233]

I'm going to use this channel's content as the basic architecture for my future celestial empire. Thanks Isaac!

[@dalemartin815]

21:30 elevator conundrum is a real bitch.

[@dalemartin815]

After thought: Vertical industry? Some industry has gravity dependant possesses (ie foundries and Steele mills ) use the tall structures to milk gravity for all its worth.

[@fawoki8519]

Whenever I watch you, I'm amazed about our potential in what we could do... Great video as always! Greetings from GERMANY!!!

[@axelbostrom3606]

turning the bass up to 11 on the intro is so fun, makes the house shake :P

[@noahegler9131]

That's why I always listen to this channel on the road. Also, idk if this is just me, but for whatever reason his speech impediment is more understandable when the bass is all the way up.

[@ferdinand9949]

As always, very informative and interesting! I like your videos and I hope NASA or anyone else could realize them in our lifetime. Greetings from Germany!🇩🇪

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Vielen Dank

[@kerbodynamicx472]

He often discussed things on a trillion year and galactic scales...

[@ferdinand9949]

@@kerbodynamicx472 I agree, I mean its basically impossible anyone is going to see something like black hole farming. However, I would love to see plans for a space elevator or an O'Neill cylinder within our lifetime.

[@williammook8041]

I recall speaking with Bob Forward when I was at the switch on ceremony for Paul Horowitz's Project Beta, talking about a flexible space fountain. Here you have a large number of Lofstrom type tubes though strings might be a better term woven in a spiral with MEMS based circuits woven into the 'rail' or 'vacuum wall'. The point is, each point on each spiral has an acceleration vector that when summed with all of the others is stable. By accelerating or slowing unit of mass (it doesn't matter over long distances about the spacing within a certain tolerance because the metal stretches) you can produce guidance forces. This would be used with accelerometers to maintain absolute stability regardless of outside forces. You would also use it to guide a whip like structure into various directions and curvatures - to fire something into any orbit you like - or arrange to 'capture' an object for any incoming orbit. All you need to do is communicate with a thing and track it. The 'whip' launcher would be retracted when not in use, and extend from a spiral storage site as you added power. You would then launch your payloads with it, and guide it around for the next launch. You could also have several at one site, if you were especially busy. **** Another concept entirely - and your buoyancy discussion reminded me of this - is to make an explosive air fuel aerogel foam that's hydrogen filled and varies in density along its length. You compound it in a pipeline slit along its length, and half a stationary trough and half a mobile cap that rolls off to the side. Or slit the cap in half and roll each back along the length all at once. Anyway, you have injectors and mixers and self-rising foam that forms along the length, and when all is ready, you release the big foam string. It rises to its static height and forms a 2000 mile long Goddard trajectory. You then fire a capsule along this length, and arrange for it to detonate the propellant gel as it passes. This is a concept I've thought a lot about over the years and worked out a few details - after working with shock tubes at the Ohio State University years ago - but I haven't seen discussed.

[@RandallStephens397]

I'd love to watch Isaac do a Let's Play of Stellaris

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

"the substance, not the planet" how have I never thought about that before?

[@ozdergekko]

Time to say a big "Thank You" for the enormous amount of work you put in scripting these videos.

[@johnq6619]

I love your show and have watched almost every episode. This episode hits a little close to home. I'm a structural engineer. While you have some great alternative methods to getting us to advance past current limitations of materials and economy, I thing you are underestimating some of the science. Lateral loads and dynamic forces for example. A column, regardless if it utilizes kinetic or potential forces to resist gravitational forces, has significantly reduced capacity when it is out of plumb. If your enormous atlas pillar had a slight displacement due to wind, the stresses in the material due to the induced moment would be astronomical. If you wanted to power up your mass driver to compensate, there would be a delay. This delay would create an exponential increase in forces as the momentum created from the enormous mass of the tower settling vertically just a millimeter would also me huge and in addition to the increase of load from the original out of straight condition. Fluctuating mass driver power to compensate for this dynamic building would probably cause oscillation and fatigue failure. Engineers build rigidity into structures to avoid osculation and harmonic resonance issues. Think of a bouncy house built out of aluminum coke can material. The material will rupture from fatigue stress. A more sound approach would be to utilize mass drivers to increase the capacity of members, than supersize them, and stitch them together into gigantic vertical lattice truss structures. Much like a radio antenna, just huge.

[@Teranewone]

This was a subject I've been waiting for him to cover for a while, I've always loved the concept of a Space Tower, a massive structure that goes to the stars that are small cities unto themselves, and Isaac went in the direction I hoped he would. Amazing things to think about!

[@Seshins]

I saw this on my feed this morning when i woke up, but i thought "No, i'll save this for after work and really enjoy it" It was worth the wait!

[@ObeyBunny]

10:37 My damn dirty mind.

[@tripwire4727]

ObeyBunny "with the floating pad, we can lay down things between them and shoot" lol no not just you!😂

[@dragonkxk6309]

love your show bro. but at 10:33 in the words of the immortal memes "IS THAT A PEENIS"

[@jesseback3536]

All you instant viewers... I save these videos for bedtime, they help me fall asleep

[@avanconia]

YAAAAAS! You've set my mind off on a subject the world mostly ignored.. The balloon rule explanation instantly makes my mind shoot over to Washing State U. and their announcement of discovering / creating an apparently "Negative Mass Material". I think you and your friends have probably had some real discussion on this, and that it would probably make a great episode. If you apply negative mass gas or liquid to the counter gravity / 'skyward bound' section of each of your favorite concepts it would display a likely revolution of the 'Science Future' / theoretical physics & astrophysics genre(as well as likely get the anti-grav. craft 'TR-3B' Roswell crowd listening more as well). It would be highly interesting to see someone shoot the moon and apply the theorized and (apparently) displayed 'negative-matter' equations to the given field equations that are used for the whole of the community(ies), and your work... Ok, I need to grab another brew, and start this week's video over; stop typing and half-listening, lol. New mic, and / or new voice mastering sounds goooood. Kind of an "epic" appeal on the Bose surround. Thank you as always. I apologize for always injecting my hopes and suggestions, but you do cater to dreamers, and are evolving your format quickly which I enjoy seeing nearly as much as the content matter.. Hope all is well with you and yours. Andrew.

[@avanconia]

Also just wanted to note: I'm sorry I cannot contribute to your channel financially. I am currently selling off all of my toys; which includes extra computers, RC Trucks, power tools, furniture, gear from my previous business, etc.. All in anticipation of a new path in life. Politics drained my funds. I was extremely interested and set myself up as a contractor for congressional runs in 2016, as well as a "die-hard" political supporter dedicating all of my resources to having an effect on the masses and the political narrative. Anyways, I wish I could contribute, and truly appreciate you reading my(and OUR) praises and suggestions.I will make an effort to check out Kaite Byrne (I think it was) as well to gain more and show appreciation for that channel's contributions.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I always appreciate whatever support of whatever type folks feel they can offer, but none is expected either, just subscribing, liking, and making the occasional comment or clicking the occasional ad helps the channel a lot. And yeah, I know all about the draining aspects of politics, though for me its more time than money thankfully, but while I keep the channel as apolitical as possible, to promote a congenial environment for contemplation, I do encourage folks to be active in that regard, regardless of affiliation, which is why I keep mine secret here.

[@arturskimelis527]

Isaac, your work will cause tidal waves in the art industry a few years from now. Mark my words. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I hope if that is so they'll send them to me, I love space art.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I hope if that is so they'll send them to me, I love space art.

[@arturskimelis527]

Isaac Arthur You'll definitely get space art!

[@valrond]

Got my coffee and snack (a chocholate donut today) to enjoy Arthursday :D

[@rodrigosierpe5995]

Thank you Isaac Arthur, for giving us this great content. Personally this is one of the few things I keep on looking on KZbin :)

[@JoshSideris]

Awesome to see those clips from Thoth. The owner, Brendan Quine was a professor of mine at the Lassonde School of Engineering. Awesome guy. Big dreamer. He's got all kinds of patents on space elevator tech and afaik he's pushing hard for one. He's said that some of the biggest threats to this dream are micrometeorites, lightning, terrorism, and he believes maintaining a space elevator would involve continuously replacing damaged threads in the tether by lowering new ones down from space. He had a bunch of 1st year students do white papers on a space elevator concept as a class assignment, then tore every single one of their presentations apart for being impractical. Hahaha.

[@kokofan50]

I know the last time I asked about super conductors you gave me a very tepid maybe, but Arthur, I think with the repeat mentions in the Upward Bound series we need a video.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Perhaps, we'll have to see come August, the schedule is packed till then.

[@kokofan50]

That will be more than fair.

[@sulljoh1]

14:22 "Very popular. Beautiful artwork too. But from an engineering perspective its terribly flawed." Isaac, you just summed up 95% of architecture.

[@DAYBROK3]

sulljoh1 🤔🧐🙃

[@SmartK8]

Sky is not the limit here.. badass!

[@AtlasReburdened]

"We like to think big on this channel" ~ Isaac

[@rebelbeammasterx8472]

Nay, the universe.

[@lazaruslong697]

Arthursdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@kampkrieger]

today is also arthursday??

[@lazaruslong697]

Every thursday is Arthursday since i found this channel. :D

[@christosgiannopoulos828]

Lazarus Long Pretty much me all day :-)

[@cemmett2703]

Highlight of my week.

[@avanconia]

HAHAHA YAAAS! I really enjoy that he (they?) is/are consistently releasing in my morning (PST), and I get to anticipate it all day.. I plan my night around it with much anticipation.

[@nicogame5039]

A warm pizza, a cool coke and an Isaac Artuhr video on my screen... Yep, the perfect Thursday !

[@RWilliscroft]

Keith Lofstrom, inventor of the Space Launch Loop, just sent me a link to the Launch Loop video, which prodded me to view this video. I am writing here to inform all of you that several years ago Keith and I outlined a novel about the construction of the world's first space launch loop. I then wrote the novel titled "Slingshot," and Keith reviewed it for technical accuracy, and wrote the forward. It was launched at the International Space Elevator Conference in Seattle in August 2015. If you want to discover just how a space launch loop might be constructed, how it would work, the challenges to make it happen, and the problems that can develop, then you should read the novel, "Slingshot." Award-winning "Slingshot" is well reviewed, and has received high acclaim from hard science fiction devotees. Get it as a Kindle book, hard or softbound, or as an audible book from Amazon. Check out the web page at slingshotnovel.com.

[@patrickkathambana4112]

This whole channel is absolutely amazing! Thanks for the great content. Greetings from Kenya.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Thanks Patrick!

[@omegasrevenge]

You said that if everything had to have a practical purpose, then art wouldn't exist. I disagree; the existence of entertainment has a *very* practical purpose :P I do desire my dopamine and adrenaline to be in high supply!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Fair point :)

[@neo-filthyfrank1347]

cringe

[@FirstRisingSouI]

How many of you like these videos by reflex within the first three seconds?

[@michaeloosthuizen2383]

Perfect timing for a break form studying!

[@UpcycleElectronics]

Mr Arthur today, I have decided I have limited my perspective and imagination too much. I need you on the big screen as my phone/tablet are far too limited for your epic content ;)

[@Electronic424]

We said 'Starscrapers' at the same time Jinx! you owe me a soda. lol

[@beringstraitrailway]

QuickMix I did the same thing! 😀

[@N9197U]

Same here 7 years later!

[@timothywhite2666]

Why have I watched this one 3 times? I keep coming back and wanting this so bad....

[@Farmingdaneo]

Never clicked a notification quicker. I love your videos and I would like to thank you for re-igniting my love for science. I want to go into genetic engineering when I start school again. On that note what's your opinion that the first nano bots in the human body would be organic in nature, suck as white blood cells that are programmed to rush a cut that deliver stem cells to speed up the healing process (if that would help, I'm not to familiar on how your body heals cuts.)

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I think adapting existing, natural 'nano-machines' to do other jobs is probably a very good early approach.

[@stefanr8232]

Platelets. Red cross already uses these nano bots. You can find your local donation center here: www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood

[@hans_von_twitchy1014]

After sabotage, when use explosives and parachutes to lower segments back to the ground, don't need to "give them horizontal nudge" to stop them landing on top of each other. Just use "square parachutes". They have significant horizontal velocity. Easy to have them descend on different compass directions.

[@Comicsluvr]

This series has made me completely rethink the sci-fi book I'm writing.

[@grassyclimer6853]

good stuff. most of the reason transmission towers are high up to remove obstructions of signal the range actually goes down because now your signal has further to travel before it reachs receiver.

[@hamentaschen]

It's almost to the point I cannot sleep Wednesday nights. I'm literally that excited for Artursdays!! Thank you for all your hard work producing such awesome content!! Happy Arthursday!!!!

[@fishsquishguy1833]

I'm lucky to have been able to enjoy this channel very early on. Just had to say how impressive the graphics are now! Hell I'd still love this if was only audio, but it's really cool how much your channel has grown! Jim

[@kevin0117rc]

Active support structure is kind of in use today. Grain silos are built from the top down; I believe some sort of hydraulic pump is used to push everything up when you want to add another layer. The only difference is that they still use generic support rather than some constant supply of energy.

[@TheConsoleShowdown]

Would the active support make a lot of noise?

[@eklavyasingh7842]

nice violin intro sound at the beginning. it gives us a sense of purpose.

[@jimpatterson5524]

IA mentioned building buildings on the ground and lifting a floor when it was largely finished and building the next one below it. In ATLANTA, such a building was built in the mid to late 1960s. Seems it was a bank building some 20 or so stories tall, but i was in high school so I do not remember details. I do not recall any problems with that procedure, but I can say that it was the only one built in that manner and the city now has at least 8 or more times the number of 20 or so story buildings than at that time.

[@richardmuller7667]

Hey Isaac, what happened to the concept of ground based lasers getting a spacecraft get into orbit directly? Would that be feasible? Love your videos btw.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

It is, but I decided to bypass it for the main series, its on the 'revisit later' list, buoyancy would have been too if it weren't so connected to space towers.

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

It's possible, but inefficient, as lasers spread out too much in an atmosphere.

[@neo-filthyfrank1347]

@@theapexsurvivor9538 They could be used on moons and such without much atmosphere

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

@@neo-filthyfrank1347 yeah, but if there's that little atmosphere, it's easier just to make a runway or maglev track as air resistance wouldn't be a problem so you build up to escape velocity at ground level.

[@Max_Flashheart]

Great work! Love all the series you have and are doing.

[@Theonlynamenoonehas]

Love these videos, Isaac Arthur is great to listen to.

[@MattNeufy]

Man your videos are absolutely fantastic! Every week I wait for the notification that Isaac Arthur has uploaded a new video! Your work is professional and entertaining, PLEASE keep up the great work!

[@Pcat0]

I have a great original name for a Space Tower, the Tower of Babel. Oh wait....

[@solanumtinkr8280]

Another video and so many more fun ideas.

[@D3AD1YF0RC31214]

The best course of action would to rely on both passive and active support structures; IE incorporate vacuum balance systems inside of the space towers upper core to make it very resilient to sabotage, or to make the active support process less intensive. Incorporating both methods will make the overall product a lot sturdier and more reliable.

[@MrtrenchTrucker]

can you do an episode about building a launch magnetic rail inside a mountain and using the mountain itself to hold up the vertical rail and geo thermally cool everything? I think that would be a cool idea.

[@aleksandarrudic3694]

What about the wind? The main issue with building high towers is not the longitudinal force exerted by the gravity on the building columns and foundations (the materials we use for skyscrapers like concrete and steel are actually very good at handling longitudinal pressures so concerning only these forces we could easily build towers many miles high), but lateral forces exerted by the wind. Active support acts only in one direction, that is from the ground up, counteracting the gravity, but that's not providing any lateral rigidity. If you can build the structure rigid enough to resist wind, that structure would certainly be able to stand on its own, so that defies the purpose of the active support. You could theoretically stabilize the tower with the cables attached to the ground, but at lengths required every material that you currently can make a cable from would be just too elastic even if the cable would not break on its own. Also to mention: the wind speed is quite more dramatic at high altitudes, and it also changes direction with altitude. Those cables are also subjected to there own weight and the wind forces. So if you want to reliably stabilize a space tower, you need carbon nanotubes or graphene after all (unless you want to make each cable actively supported as well which only brings the problem to the next level), and if you have those already, the space elevator is a much better option.

[@bobthebuilder5493]

My God... the way you started the video was amazing.

[@4xelchess905]

The intro are so epics and well worded.

[@StainlessHelena]

what if a space tower was shaped somewhat like a slinky? in the case of a power outage if could simply fold in on itself.

[@failandia]

the intro alone got my like boyy you are good

[@merinsan]

So could we use active support to build a traditional skyscraper, and reduce the cost by doing so? So build the top floor, jack it up, build the next floor down, etc. Once all floors are done, anchor it to the ground and turn off the active support. I'm guessing there is some height where this approach becomes better than the traditional approach.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Quite possibly, interesting notion.

[@beringstraitrailway]

This episode has the second best introduction lines, the first and greatest introduction being the episode about colonizing the Sun.

[@liban1685]

some say the sky is the limit, but the sky is not the limit *INTRO MUSIC EPICNESS*

[@aziouss2863]

thanks you for making these videos this is the only channel where i can find satisfaction while thinking about mankinds future it is hard to believe that you are just one guy doing this competeing and beating dedicated science channel

[@CronyxRavage]

I *love* the music and intro for the Upward Bound series, it reminds me of playing an old RTS like Command & Conquer or something, and you're getting your industry / economy really well established, and that main booster rocket kicks in right on the drop of the music, "We goin to *space* motherfuckers!" It's just sick, really gets you pumped for what you're about to learn. I love it. :)

[@Marmocet]

Off topic question: is there a name for the sort of engineering we might do to redistribute the materials and objects in a star system for the purpose of maximizing the number of Earth-like planets in it? What I'm thinking of here involves terraforming, but it also involves wholesale rearrangements of orbits and in some cases smashing planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids and comets together to create new worlds.

[@callangoldeneye7018]

97k now Issac ! I remember being one of your first subs way back when you made your first fermi paradox video. Adore the Channel and the work, keep it up, you will be at 1m in no time!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

98k now :) But I'll just settle for 100k, there's an episode sitting there waiting for broadcast at 100k and I'm getting worried that won't happen till I'm away at conference next week

[@prakadox]

Excellent work, Isaac and team. It took opening up the fold to see how big the team is. Awesome work all of you! When you mentioned issues with wind, I thought about it and please check if this idea works. An array of wind turbines with the largest at the outer most level and smaller and smaller ones closer to the structure. They will spin and provide some of the power needed to keep themselves and the structure aloft. By ensuring that strong winds are slowed down to gentle breezes by the time they reach the structure, they reduce the wind load on the structure. But they have their own weight and a calculation may be needed to check whether they pay off ultimately.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

... that... is actually a good idea, not sure how viable it is when you start adding the weight of the turbines into things though.

[@ndperson1]

Isaac Arthur what about the recent wind turbine design where they use vibration instead of blades to obtain power (bladeless wind turbines). I am not sure how well developed and viable they are though right now

[@ndperson1]

I just bring it up as they are supposed to be lighter and if they don't need blades they could actually possibly have gases in them to actually be a lifting force instead of weighing things down. hopefully they end up working out since without the need to have blades they potentially could have far less maintenance. I always like the idea of trying to turn a negative into a positive, or a waste byproduct into something useful (like it would be great if we figured out a way to successfully make use of carbon dioxide and just side step the whole issue of global warming completely and/or make use of carbon dioxide already in the air)

[@georgeivanus6697]

good job , Isaak! keep the dream alive even if the brain is dead

[@Merb34st]

You give me such hope for the future.

[@viscifi517]

Have you covered Atmospheric Voltage? 100V/m until reaching ionosphere means your tower is grounding 50,000V. Would that generate lightning? Dat b so cool 😎

[@LukeLightbringer]

Isaac, while I enjoy how many concepts you are covering in your upward bound series I would like to suggest that perhaps you could alternate in other topics every other week. Would love to see some more variety week to week.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Well except for the first two episodes, each has had 1-2 other videos in between it and the last UB episode, but the series is concluding next, next week. Partially because I kind of want to explore other topics and a 10-episode series is a bit constraining to work around.

[@Wolfphototech]

*One must wonder.* *Where does the sky begin.* *An where does it end.*

[@qq1648]

Great video, I find active support structures a very interesting topic. Orbital Rings are particularly interesting.

[@stefanr8232]

A little friction on the way up would help the tower. The lower sections have mass and need to be held up too.

[@reptilesarecool9763]

I found what I’m binge watching

[@GroovyVideo2]

great video Thanks for making

[@anthonygillard9255]

amazing video isaac, thanks. ....

[@cemmett2703]

Amazing work once again.

[@abz998]

Put off by tall towers after that recent London fire. I'll stick with my cheap launch loop thank you. Great video as always.

[@goneutt]

Vacuum lifters are something every good engineering student toys with. It's generally easier to inflate with helium to achieve the same protons per cubic as a vacuum.

[@ChrisBrengel]

Isaac! At 13:12 you've got your SFIA logo on the wing of a black hypersonic jet! How cool is that?

[@richardgreen7225]

[1] Active support supports the payload with a continuous supply of kinetic energy versus a continuous supply of passive inter-molecular attraction. [2] This enables weird ideas such as vacuum balloons. In a normal gas-filled balloon, the gas is part of the structure preventing collapse. The envelope merely needs to keep the gas confined. In a vacuum balloon, the a passive envelope would crush at the slightest perturbation like a beer can attached to a vacuum pump. However, in theory, one can use magnetism or other kinetic energy to supply the force that the gas in a gas-filled balloon would normally supply.

[@jamesmeritt6800]

I think a rotovator would look really neat!

[@Edit32]

Thanks Isaac

[@AG-pm3tc]

Isaac, you are the man! Btw, the intro gives me goosebumps, it's just awsome and fitting for this kind of stuff. Thanks for makeing such great content!

[@kerbodynamicx472]

A G it gives me a feeling that I want to explore the universe. Upward Bound! Up and outward, no matter the cost!

[@rockochimp545]

I was considering the question posed about why one would need a moving city. Anyone else with thoughts on it? A possible answer that came to mind was a city on a slowly rotating world that with a thin temperate Goldilocks zone at the poles, dawn and dusk. One could build at the poles, but could also have a constantly migrating city following/fleeing the sun.

[@rhuiah]

Great episode.

[@SoberGin]

Wait, planetary rings are next? Oh my god this channel just keeps getting better and better.

[@lowrads3653]

I thought this would be about the astonishing civil engineering that is possible on the Moon with even the most basic building materials.

[@bhdctn]

Great videos and narrator.

[@SashEX]

Isaac, if I leave the advert on during the video does that help you out more in anyway? its not that invasive and if it does indeed help ill leave it up. just like to know. love your work sir

[@nikolaishriver7922]

What if we used maybe microwave generators to beam power to sections of an orbital cannon, or mass driver, possibly to electric jets which maintain the sections aloft for launches. Or even using nikola Tesla’s method of wireless transmission. Engines not needing the weight of power cables, paired with inflated/vacuum balloons could probably hold quite a bit of weight. This could be used for cargo transport and the ships jump from energy projector/Tesla tower to the next. Leap-frogging around a trade route.

[@shaughnessyneal9426]

Your speech impediment is of no concern to me, and I appreciate your work, but I got a chuckle out of "Atlas pillows".

[@FzFx]

When there will be a big maintenance on an Atlas pillar, first it will be gently laid onto an Atlas pillow for easy access.

[@wmcruzcarrollsr.5727]

I have heard a few people who talked the same way. I never know it was an impediment, but I thought it was an accent from someplace. o.O

[@jarredeagley1748]

It had to be uploaded right as I board a plane! haha

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Haven't you already seen it Jarred? It has been posted to the PG group for a few days already :)

[@jarredeagley1748]

Isaac Arthur I try to avoid spoilers until the finished product comes out. :)

[@jarredeagley1748]

Might've been a good idea to replace some of the repeats of my animation with the slow pan one I posted in the production group a while back. :P Regardless, space towers are cool. very cool.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Damn, I actually forgot about that one, I knew there was another one too.

[@jarredeagley1748]

Isaac Arthur An animation of the tower being constructed, yes. On an unrelated sidenote, I don't know if I'll be able to finish my orbital ring model in time.

[@LogicalMayhem00]

Looking forward to seeing you turn this into fully animated compendium one day :D

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

One day maybe, I try to avoid repeating episode topics if I don't have more to say, even for the old ones with bad graphics, but if I ever got access to really top notch graphics tailored to the concepts, I wouldn't mind doing just that.

[@timvandeleur215]

At first I couldn't watch due to your speech impediment (sorry). However your content was (and still is) so out of this world that I just had to watch it. Now I don't even hear it anymore and loving the passion you put in your videos that I just have to force myself not to binge everything :)

[@Kaemmer23]

Boats float on water primarily due to waters surface tension. The density of the steel in giant steel ships is denser than water and would sink regardless of how much “air” is in the boat if it weren’t for waters surface tension which basically makes the water push up on the boat and fight against it from being able to “break” the surface tension and sinking

[@Kaemmer23]

The density of the material the boat is made of is obviously relevant too but it is significantly less important than the surface tension of the the water in terms of keeping boats afloat

[@massimookissed1023]

@@Kaemmer23 , bollocks. Submarines are made of steel, are able to remain buoyant, and are past any surface tension of the water. The reason they and boats don't sink is because their subsurface volume displaces a mass of water equal to their own mass.

[@MartinPreinfalk]

great episode. thx!